


Proceed With Caution

by 1000PaperCranes



Series: Stay Back 500 Feet [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: A Little Help from Your Friends, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beaches, Benefits are Implied... Mostly, Caretaking, Dinobots, Friends With Benefits, Gen, Getting Back on the -Ahem- Horse, Happy Ending, High Speed Sex Education for Aliens, M/M, Multi, No Beta: We die like mne, Other, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Safe Sane and Consensual, Sexy Firefighters, Slow Burn, now with editing!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2020-08-18 23:34:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20200027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1000PaperCranes/pseuds/1000PaperCranes
Summary: Kade has a plan.Heatwave does not.





	1. Chapter 1

It was months before Heatwave stopped feeling a hot rush of shame every time Kade swung up into his cab. And if Kade wasn’t smiling? Well, then static would scratch along Heatwave’s circuitry and, inevitably, they’d wind up fighting. Heatwave didn’t want to fight with Kade. He truly didn’t. 

The guilt eventually passed, and with it, Heatwave’s static-frayed nerves.

Still, he made a concentrated effort, as did all the bots, to _never_ mention Hayley, even obliquely. Even a hint about the woman left Kade stone-faced for the rest of the day. His hands would clench painfully on Heatwave’s steering wheel and he’d dart from place to place like an angry tigwasp. It was never difficult for Heatwave to keep his peace on _those_ days. But even they passed.

Two years passed.

Two whole years where Kade didn’t mention women in anything but the plainest contexts. Two years where he turned away when Taylor kissed Dani. Two years before he cracked a joke about his mother making his father blush. Heatwave hadn’t followed, but the Chief had glowed proudly even as he laughed at himself. Then, not a few days later, Kade brought a woman to the firehouse.

She was tall, tawny, and solidly built, with features less delicate than Dani’s but still symmetrical. With them was an even taller, much darker skinned man. And where the woman was evenly matched with Kade, the man absolutely dwarfed him. Heatwave had thought Kade was as thickly packed with muscle as humans came, but this new man proved him wrong.

“So, I, uh…” Kade rubbed the back of his head, blushing.

“Need a chaperone,” the woman suggested with a laugh. Her voice was gravelly and well suited to her frame.

Kade grinned sheepishly, eyes skittering over both of his companions.

The man laughed as well; a rolling, rumbling sound that wasn’t quite as basement deep as Heatwave expected. The man placed a massive hand on Kade’s shoulder. “We know what you want, Kade.” Kade met his eyes. “We’re happy to help.”

“Thanks, Rome,” Kade replied with a soft smile, something peaceful about his posture that wasn’t before. After a moment, he turned his gaze on the woman, a playfulness appearing in his face. “Alright, Wendy. Last chance to back out?”

Her answering grin was dazzling. “Not a chance.”

“I like that; taking charge.” Rome’s smile was even more dazzling for the contrast between his teeth and skin.

Kade blinked for a moment then blushed _furiously_. Ducking his head, Kade covered his face with one hand.

“Oh, way to go, Brooks.” Wendy pushed the larger man’s shoulder. He stumbled back dramatically.

“Just acknowledging progress, _Gadwall_.” He spread his hands, ignoring the way Kade shrunk even further in on himself. “Praise in public, _Captain_. You should know that.”

Public praise didn’t seem to sit well with Kade at the moment. 

“I know all about public praise, _Lieutenant_. _So good_, right?” Wendy looked sharkish.

“We are not doing this,” Kade said, hand falling to his side. His face was still pink but fading. “I am not having sex on a last name and rank basis.”

Captain Wendy Gadwall looked at him with real warmth. “Course not.”

Lieutenant Rome Brooks rejoined them, this time placing both hands on Kade’s shoulders. Kade blushed again at the man’s indulgent look, dropping his gaze. The larger man ducked to meet Kade’s eyes. “Call us anything you want, Kade, and we’ll call you whatever you tell us to.”

“We’re done playing, Lieutenant,” the captain said with real respect.

Kade bit his lip, lifting his chin over a coffee colored hand to survey the nearly empty garage. He looked unsure.

“LT?” the dark man looked very concerned.

Kade sighed but turned back to him with a smile. He seemed to like the diminutive of his rank. “It’s not going to be weird if I call you Brooks and her Wendy?”

Brooks grinned, “I’d prefer it, actually.”

Kade’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

Brooks pressed his lips together seriously, but quickly broke into a grin. He chuckled at himself. “Truth,” he promised.

“Alright,” Kade grinned back. He looked at Wendy. “You too?” She nodded decisively, doubling down on her smile. “So, the family’s not here right now,” Kade rolled his eyes at the empty bays, “but we should be somewhere else when they get back.” An unhealthy tension had returned to him.

“We got a minute,” Brooks countered, dropping his hold and giving Kade space. “What are _you_ comfortable with?”

Kade sighed heavily, scrubbing his hands over his face. “I have no idea.”

The two waited patiently for Kade to come out from behind his palms. He raked his fingers unhappily through his hair before meeting his friends’ combined concern with a helpless expression.

“S’ok.” Wendy stood loosely, projecting so much calmness and safety that Heatwave could feel it on the other side of the room. “Easy questions first: male or female?”

“Uh…” Kade gnawed his bottom lip, glancing over both of them from head to toe and back again. “Male. I think.” He met Wendy’s eyes with a wince. “Sorry.”

“Hey.” Wendy held her hands up permissively. “I make a great bouncer.” She leaned her shoulder blades against the wall and crossed her arms comfortably.

Brooks cocked his head to the side. “Kade?” The redhead turned to him, looking almost wary. “You know you’re allowed to change your mind, right?” This human reminded Heatwave of Boulder. “Any bit of it at any time?”

After contemplating Brooks’ very sincere expression for a very long moment, Kade nodded slowly. Brooks smiled softly, cupping Kade’s jaw and pressing their foreheads together. A Cybertronian kiss, but a gesture of welcome among humans. Wendy watched them studiously until Kade tipped his chin up, prompting Brooks to press their lips together. The woman smiled.

Heatwave’s insides _crawled_.

He couldn’t move, trapped in vehicle mode as long as the two mainlanders were in the room. All the protective instinct he’d done nothing with the last time he’d seen Kade kissing someone and talking about sex came roaring back. Heatwave barely kept his engine from revving, but still received a sharp glance from Wendy. He must have made some sort of sound, as Brooks also quirked a brow, but Kade didn’t seem to notice.

Kade lifted his hands to Brook’s face. The darker man’s focus dissolved completely back into the kiss. The tips of Kade’s fingers dug nervously against the man’s close shorn hair when Brooks pulled back, dragging his teeth carefully along a kiss-reddened lower lip. He worried his own lip in concern when Kade didn’t open his eyes.

The smaller man appeared lost, breathing with great control. He licked his lips, sucking the strange sensations from the bottom one. “Oh,” fell from his mouth, not even a whisper. Eyes blinking open, Kade licked his lips again. He met Brooks concerned gaze with sweet surprise.

“Alright?” Brooks asked, worry only slightly allayed.

Kade broke into a boyish grin. “Yeah.” He seemed excited, as if discovering something mystical. “I forgot.”

Wendy closed her eyes, seeming to experience pain at his words. Brooks hesitated, clearly suppressing his own reaction. He covered the fault with an indulgent smile. “Glad to remind you.”

Kade fairly vibrated with anticipation. He pushed up on his toes, wrapping his arms around Brooks’ neck. Tilting his head, he caught the other man in a gleeful kiss. Kade’s smile slowly faded, the contact between his mouth and Brooks’ becoming too intimate for anything other than sincere concentration. 

All the while, Wendy watched them attentively, aloof but not disengaged. Her head tilted curiously when Kade began to absently pluck at the seam of Brooks navy top. Brooks responded by slipping his hands up Kade’s shirt. 

It was then that Heatwave realized his partner wasn’t wearing his usual gear. Instead of the protective yellow bunker pants, he was dressed in what Graham referred to as his ‘day uniform’. The black cargo pants had offered no resistance, allowing Kade’s shirt to be untucked in a flick. Heatwave instantly hated it. From the reflective FIRE written across Kade’s shoulder blades, to the pull of the white fabric on his deltoids, to the flimsy excuse for pants, to the lightweight foot armor, Heatwave hated it all. His partner was too vulnerable.

Heatwave stopped himself from growling. 

Wendy pushed away from the wall, crossing the garage silently despite her own foot armor. She brushed a hand along his front quarter panel. “I’m not sure what kind of AI you are,” she said lowly, “but we’re trying to help him.” She leaned her forehead against the panel. “Give us a chance?”

Kade made a sound, unsure and confused, arresting the attention of both woman and bot. The two men had moved very little, but several of Brooks wandering fingers had dipped below the waistband of Kade’s inadequate pants.

“Easy,” Wendy murmured, her hand ghosting soothingly along Heatwave’s finish. 

Heatwave _wanted_ to believe that they were helping Kade, but how could he? How could he trust his own judgement after what he’d allowed to happen last time? As Heatwave warred internally, his concern for his partner clashing with itself, the man in question slowly softened.

Brooks fingers caressed the skin they’d found. Kade made a noise Heatwave had never heard. It was something Heatwave couldn’t even begin to name, and he found himself panicking.

“Easy.” Wendy said again. “Make you a deal: I’ll stay here…” She turned fully towards her entwined friends, leaning her shoulder against Heatwave. “And if I’m wrong, you can rip me in half.”

It was tempting. Heatwave contemplated as he watched the slow movements of the men. Kade’s hand slipped down Brooks body, delving under the larger man’s t-shirt. A moment later, Brooks splayed his hand across Kade’s bottom, pulling the smaller man onto his thigh. Nearly taken off the floor, Kade made a startled noise, wrenching his mouth away. He looked wide-eyed into Brooks face, panting in open-mouthed shock.

“Sorry,” Brooks whispered with a soft smile. “Didn’t mean to sweep you off your feet.”

Kade let out a pained groan.

Heatwave bristled, but Wendy cautioned him, “Give it a second.”

Kade dropped his head back, looking to the ceiling in exasperation. He let out a small involuntary chuckle. Brooks took that as permission to place his mouth on Kade’s neck.

Heatwave was stunned. Horror swept his frame as memories of Hayley biting Kade assaulted him. Kade’s eyes fell shut and he let out another noise Heatwave couldn’t decipher.

“He likes that,” Wendy noted quietly, to herself, or perhaps to Heatwave, though this time he was sure he hadn’t made a sound. Kade _keened_. Wendy chuckled.

That was a positive sound? Heatwave wouldn’t have guessed, but he didn’t _know_. Silently, he accepted the woman’s offer. He’d trust her to protect Kade, and if she failed, he’d crush her. And the dark man. It seemed though that once again she wasn’t wrong. Heatwave felt unprecedented relief. Before his optics, Kade was… _melting_… against the larger man. 

The redhead’s toes made better contact with the floor, allowing him to free his hands. He pulled off Brooks’ shirt, dropping the fabric gracelessly on the cement. Brooks’ spine, below his collar, was pinstriped with sharp black curves. Something about it caught Heatwave’s attention and after staring probably too long, the word TRUST, written vertically, resolved. Heatwave didn’t know if pinstripe promises were sacred on Earth, but they were on Cybertron, and he fully intended to hold the human to it.

Brooks smoothed his hands up Kade’s sides, revealing pale flesh. The skin prickled from waistband to armpits. Kade raised his hands in the air. Sliding the shirt over Kade’s head, Brooks dropped it next to his own. He stepped back to admire Kade’s torso with its freckles and scars. He kept his hands on Kade’s ribs but did nothing to restrict the smaller man’s heaving breaths. 

The play of their skin tones was so nearly Cybertronian that even Heatwave could appreciate the beauty.

Brooks dropped to his knees, hands slipping to Kade’s hips.

“Good,” Wendy murmured. “A little submission to even things out.”

Kade blinked in confusion. He gazed down at the miniature mountain prostrated at his feet with utter disorientation. With the removal of his shirt, Kade’s hands had come to hover in a half-defensive position near his shoulders; he lowered them. Kade reached out, running a hand over Brooks’ head and caressing his skull.

Wendy stiffened as Brooks reached for Kade’s waistband. “Kade has no idea what’s going on.” Her whole body was taught, as if ready to charge. To his own fortune, Brooks only undid Kade’s top button, allowing the pants to slip lower. 

There was nothing under them. 

Wendy relaxed as Brooks switched his focus to the twitching muscles of Kade’s abdomen. Brooks brushed his fingers over them, avidly fascinated by each jump and shiver. Kade’s hands hung at his sides, face bewildered. After several moments, Brooks’ hands coaxed Kade to step closer. With a quick look of reassurance, the larger man knelt up, pressing his mouth to Kade’s belly.

Kade gasped harshly.

Heatwave nearly lost his composure, but for Wendy’s proud grin and calmly petting fingers.

Kade pressed his hands to Brooks’ where they engulfed his hips but didn’t pull them away. Nearly overwhelmed, he sought the counsel of the ceiling again. Kade’s breaths came even harder, the flush on his face spreading down to his chest. He slid one hand over Brooks’ arm, clenching the thick muscles fit to bruise when the man dipped his tongue into Kade’s navel. Brooks brushed his thumbs over Kade’s nipples which contracted at the touch. He dragged his mouth lower, not stopping when he met the edge of Kade’s pants. Instead, he opened another button with his teeth.

“Nice trick,” Wendy mumbled. Brooks opened his mouth slightly, pressing it next to the streak of copper he’d revealed. Wendy hissed under her breath, “Careful with the hickeys.”

Kade had other concerns. He looked down with a heavy-lidded gaze and gently pulled Brooks head closer. Brooks skated his hands along Kade’s body, fingering the exposed dimples at the base of his spine as he sucked the small patch of skin under his mouth red. He lifted his head looking askance at the smaller man. 

Kade stared, transfixed, at the mark on his skin.

Wendy tensed again, and Heatwave wondered if she had been doing that on the other side of the room. This time she didn’t relax when Kade moved. The redhead touched the mark delicately with the tip of a finger. Then he flattened his fingers firmly over it, hiding the mark. He repeated the motion several times. Kade’s expression was… wrong.

Brooks leaned forward, resting his chin above the mark and obscuring it from Kade’s view. “Too much?” he asked, peering up with genuine trepidation.

Kade sucked in his lip but shook his head silently. He ran a hand over Brooks’ head. The message was unclear to Heatwave. Whether Brooks understood or not, he pulled away, allowing his hands to slide down Kade’s black-clad legs as he bowed to the floor. Heatwave realized suddenly that the man had not let go of Kade since the redhead had showed enthusiasm for his kiss, maintaining at least some small form of contact at all times.

“Give it time.” That was definitely for Heatwave. There was a note of perplexity in her voice, which matched her almost determined expression. “Changing the power dynamic… Don’t push it too far.” Heatwave wondered briefly if the woman had some kind of commlink to the dark man. He was distracted a moment later after Brooks began untying Kade’s boot.

Kade pulled away suddenly. “Don’t do that.” His shoe stayed behind, clutched in stupefied hands. Kade stumbled back, hands raised almost as if he were going to pull out his hair. “I…” He wrenched off his other shoe. It flipped out of his hands, smacking to the floor. “I’m not like that.”

Brooks’ face cleared. “I didn’t think you were.” He set down Kade’s boot, holding out his hand. Kade didn’t move, chest heaving in agitation. Brooks approached him slowly, stopping several feet away. “Power dynamics aren’t your thing. Got it.” He sighed, scraping his fingernails over his head. “I thought I had pushed a boundary. I was trying to un-push it.” Smiling sheepishly, Brooks spread his hands. “If I feed you, will you forgive me?”

Kade looked away, chewing on his lower lip. 

Static crawled along Heatwave’s undercarriage. What was going on?

“I’m not asking for anything else, Kade, just forgiveness.”

Kade met Brooks’ eyes, looking both wrong-footed and resolute. “How about I just forgive you?”

Brooks chewed on the inside of his lip before breaking into a smile. He spread his arms and Kade walked into them. With a sigh, Kade rested his head on the larger man’s chest and settled into the hug.

Wendy pushed away from Heatwave, approaching the two men. “Alright, you two, I’m mandating a break.” She brushed her hand over Kade’s head, ordering his sweaty hair. Heatwave kind of missed the bangs, but the shorter look made Kade’s face easier to read. “How’s fruit and ice-cream sound, Freckles? A little sugar boost for your mood?”

Kade giggled tiredly, hiding his freckly face in Brooks’ arm. “Yeah, okay.”

Heatwave had never seen Kade so… shy.

Wendy rubbed her fingers over the peach fuzz on the base of Kade’s skull. “You still want to do this?”

Kade lifted his head to look askance at her. As he tried to read her face, Wendy brush a thumb over the new, darker freckles on his nose and around his eyes. His expression solidified into tired, shy sincerity. “Yeah.”

“You still want to do this with me?” Brooks asked tentatively, clearly still uneasy.

The breath Heatwave hadn’t been aware he was holding escaped. He didn’t know how any of this was supposed to help Kade, or even what it was supposed to help him with, not really. But the elation on Brooks’ face when Kade looked up and nodded decisively convinced the firebot that the mainlanders were sincere.

“Well, no sense wasting daylight.” Brooks hefted Kade up, prompting the smaller man to scramble for purchase.

Kade hooked his ankles behind Brooks’ back, laughing. “I can walk, y’know.”

“I know,” Brooks agreed as Wendy opened the door to the living quarters for them. “I like the weight of you.” Kade cocked his head. “It’s cute when a girl can climb me like a tree, but I get so darn worried that I’m going to hurt her.” He jigged Kade in his arms. “You’re solid, you won’t break.”

“A little bisexual therapy?” Kade asked

Wendy snorted. “Kade, that is not what that word means.”

He turned and Heatwave caught the mischievous gleam in his eyes. “Two people, having sex, therapeutically. What’s the problem?”

“How many syllables are in ‘therapeutically’?” Wendy asked, letting go of the door.

Already well out of sight, Kade challenged, “Spell it.” And then they were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chief Burns stopped awkwardly in the side door, having caught sight of the men’s forgotten shirts and Kade’s displaced boots.

“Just remembered,” he declared, turning around swiftly to block the view from the rescuers behind him. “I promised Cody a driving lesson. Dani, Graham: mind filling in for me? You can take the GPV.” Cutting off the beginnings of protests from his middle children, the Chief hurried on. “And _no_ bots. Cody already knows how to drive a go-cart. It’ll be fine.” Heatwave could hear Dani and Graham grumbling as they walked away.

Cody remained. “What’s going on, Dad?”

“Kade has company.” He stepped aside, allowing Cody to see the scattered garments.

“O-oh.” Cody blinked and then laughed. “What’s the big deal?”

The Chief sighed, rubbing his mouth. “It’s the first time since the whole disaster with his ex.” Hayley didn’t have a name among most of the human’s close to Kade. “If it doesn’t go well…”

“Dani and Graham might be the exact wrong thing.” Cody looked up at his father expectantly.

“Exactly.” The Chief ruffled his son’s hair. “I’m going to explain things to the bots and then we’ll all be leaving, too. Give Kade a chance to find his sea legs, without witnesses.”

“I won’t say anything to Dani and Graham, alright?” Cody smiled conspiratorially.

“Good.” The Chief shared the look. “If Kade wants them to know. He’ll tell them.”

“You know, I don’t remember Kade bragging about that kind of thing. Not really.”

“One way or another,” the Chief clarified, hustling his youngest along. “Drag it out.” Cody left without protest.

“I don’t think you need to worry about witnesses,” Heatwave said, as soon as the teen was gone. Chief Burns cocked an eyebrow. “There’s a woman… just… _watching_ them.” The other bots filed in from outside, settling down in a circle to listen to the Chief’s explanation.

He ignored them, focusing on Heatwave. After a moment his face cleared. “Tower of a gal with a long black braid?”

“That’s her.”

“Wendy Gadwall.” The Chief nodded to himself. “I more expected Kade to be sleeping with _her_. Who was the other?”

“Ah…” After the eventful encounter between the two men, Heatwave had almost misplaced the dark man’s full name. “Lieutenant Rome Brooks.”

The Chief’s head jerked back and he blinked rapidly, startled by the information.

Chase chose that moment to enter the conversation. “He is of the same rank as Kade. Shared sleeping arrangements between the two would not be improper.”

The Chief held his chin contemplatively. “Wendy’s a captain.” He waved Chase’s comment away. “I don’t care about that anyway.” The Chief dropped his hands to his sides, apparently deciding to worry about that detail later. “Chase, they aren’t sleeping. That’s a common euphemism for sex.”

“How very confusing.” Chase leaned forward. “How is one to know which is the case?”

“Context generally.” The Chief sighed, crossing his arms and then moving one in a vaguely illustrative manner. “That’s not the point. I have no problem being frank. Kade is upstairs having sex with his friends. Apparently, he’s decided that this is a safe way to start having sex again after…”

“Hayley raped him,” Boulder supplied sadly.

The Chief had no qualms admitting what had happened to his oldest son, but actually saying the words seemed to be another matter. “That,” he agreed.

“Why bother?” Blades asked carelessly. Assenting noises came from around the circle. It wasn’t that the bots were insensitive to what had happened to Kade. It was just that between the textbooks and Heatwave’s description, the appeal of the act was totally lost on them.

“To not be scared out of his mind if he decides he wants to have a baby someday, for one thing.” Stroking his mustache, the chief appeared to be thinking very hard. He sighed. “Sex is supposed to be fun for humans. There’s a whole lot of biological impetus behind it, but the short story is we evolved to like it. A lot. Most humans crave sex, and the few that don’t usually have a lot of pain to thank for the aversion. Sex also represents intimacy and trust in a relationship, not just reproduction. It’s important to us in a lot of ways.”

“Oh.” Blades wasn’t quite chastised, but he did sit back silently.

“I know this may be uncouth, but what does sex entail?” Leave it to Chase to ask the hard questions. Not that Heatwave wasn’t desperate to know. There was no way people craved what Hayley had done to Kade, or anything like it.

“Any number of things.” The Chief looked at his hands like he might find the answers written there. “Generally, nudity is considered a hallmark.” He thought for a moment. “Realistically, it’s more of a spectrum of acts typically culminating in copulation. It can be as simple as exposing genitals and going for broke: a closet quickie sort of thing. Or hours of kissing, licking, and touching; insertion of tongues and fingers into orifices; full nudity; and multiple copulation events. Usually, it’s something in between.”

The bots, collectively, looked horrified.

“_Insertion of **tongues**_ _into **orifices**?_” Blades whimpered. “_Eew_.”

The Chief snorted into laughter. “I suppose to you it would be.”

Attempting to discard the current mood, Boulder asked a more technical question. “How do you know which humans are compatible?”

“Physically, virtually all humans are compatible. We only come in two models, with slight variations in size and color.” He shrugged, apparently not bothered by the lack of variety. “Socially, it’s sort of like figuring out who will be a good friend. You bots do that, too.”

“So, what is the purpose of dating? It seems to have done Kade more harm than good.”

The Chief winced. Way to be insensitive, Chase.

“Unfortunately, that’s far more common than we humans would like to admit.” He sighed, looking down at his empty hands again. Chase transformed into dino-mode, curling around his human in a gesture of comfort. The Chief patted him gratefully. “Thanks, partner.”

After a moment, he picked up on the true purpose of Chase’s question. “Dating is how we try on a person, to see if they’re a good fit for a relationship. A committed relationship is how we test that person further to see if they will be a good life mate. Having a child is a lifelong commitment. No one wants to make that commitment without some idea that they’ll be happy with their spouse. The process is by no means fool proof, as you’ve seen.” He sighed, leaning heavily on Chase and taking an unconsciously white-knuckled grip on one of the dinobot’s spine-plates.

Heatwave thought it was time to lighten the mood. “Kade called whatever _they’re_ doing ‘bisexual therapy’. When Wendy said he had the wrong word, they got into an argument about spelling.”

The Chief blinked at him. Then he began to chuckle and slid to the floor, laughing steadily harder as he leaned back against Chase. It didn’t seem to be funny for anyone else, but Heatwave grinned.

When the Chief finally calmed down, he leaned his head back against Chase’s neck plates. “Yep, that sounds like Kade.” He looked to the firebot. “Thanks, Heatwave. I needed that.”

Slowly, the Chief picked himself up from the floor. “Are there any other questions?”

“I am sorry to ask this, but…” Boulder was obviously trying to pick his words diplomatically. “What causes a person to… do what Hayley did?”

The Chief sighed, backing up to once again lean on Chase. “I have no idea. I can’t think of anything less appealing. The general consensus is that people like that get pleasure out of taking the power of self-determination away from someone else.”

Hayley had done plenty of that. The bots silently contemplated the implications, no doubt coming to similar conclusions.

Somewhere a door slammed.

The Chief winced reflexively, but chuckled. “That’s going to leave a mark.”

“You’re not going to do something about that?” Blades fretted. “That could be Kade getting hurt right this second!”

Charlie made a settling gesture with both hands. “As long as they don’t _break_ the door, I’m not overly concerned. Kade and Rome are big guys, if they get in a fight it will make a heck of a lot more noise than that.”

“But things that leave marks on humans _are_ painful.” Blade rang his hands. “And what if Kade _doesn’t_ fight back?”

“First of all, sex and pain are in no way mutually exclusive. A little bit of pain in the right way at the right time can heighten the experience. There’s even a whole segment of the population that deliberately introduce significant pain into their sex lives on a regular basis. It’s even relatively common to role-play a rape scenario. **_But_**,” he emphasized before any of the bots could protest, “those things are carefully negotiated _beforehand_ with the full consent of both partners.”

“What about when there’s three partners?” Heatwave asked, suddenly acutely concerned. “Couldn’t someone like Kade get ganged up on?”

The Chief looked all of them in the optics before continuing. “Kade _will_ fight Rome Brooks. I imagine that’s a large part of _why_ he chose to have sex with a man today. He’d probably fight Wendy, too, to be honest. Sex is a full contact sport. Things go bang, people get bruises, and it’s still all okay. Three partners is a relatively rare phenomenon, but I think it’s more likely that in this case, Wendy is acting as Kade’s bodyguard, especially since you say she was just watching them.”

Heatwave nodded. That fit her behavior rather well. “What makes you think Kade would fight Wendy?”

“She’s as big as he is and just as dangerous.” The Chief shrugged.

It had never occurred to Heatwave that humans might consider Kade dangerous. Or apparently, to Blades.

“Kade isn’t dangerous,” the helicopter scoffed.

“I assure you, he is,” the Chief said with an unusual edge. “So am I. Maybe not to you bots, but to another human, any member of this family is a formidable opponent. I made sure of it.” He looked at Heatwave directly. “And don’t get smug. Give Kade a good reason and half a chance, and he could deal you some crippling damage, all by himself.”

Heatwave blinked, not realizing that he had been feeling superior about their safety in relation to humans. Sure, if they brought in an airstrike, the bots were done for, but a single human was just one squishy stomp from being a memory. It was sobering to hear the Chief so sure a lone human could take down a bot.

It was also strangely sobering to think that Kade felt safer outnumbered two to one with physically dangerous people than he did alone with a tiny woman like Hayley. Chase had probably been right, emotional manipulation was the name of the game.

“From what I saw,” Heatwave said without thinking, “they might be able to kick Kade’s tailpipe, but they really just want to help him.”

“Again?” Blades complained, indignant on Heatwave’s behalf.

The firebot shook his head. “They were over there.” He pointed with his opposable digit.

“Looks like they made a pretty good start.” The Chief turned away from the abandoned clothing, raising a brow at Heatwave. “Whose boots are those?”

“Kade’s. Brooks tried to take them off and Kade flipped out.”

“About boots?” The Chief turned his attention back to the offending articles. “I wonder what boots have to do with it?”

“I have no idea.” Heatwave watched curiously as the Chief rounded up the shirts and shoes, depositing them in the laundry room. “After that they hugged, and Wendy made them get food.”

“Good.” The chief stopped before the bots. “Any more questions?”

“Um…” Blades held up a digit but then said nothing.

The Chief sighed. “Yes, Blades?”

“Why would somebody pretend to go through what Kade went through?” He winced, knowing the question was pushing the limits. “I don’t understand. Why would someone want to be hurt, especially like that?”

“The point is that they’re _not_.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, raking his fingers through his hair. “It’s like riding a rollercoaster. It _feels_ dangerous, but it really isn’t. Just when it comes to sex, instead of trusting the mechanics and engineers to make sure the rollercoaster is safe, you’re trusting your partner not to hurt you.” He stopped, but then clarified. “As for physical pain, human wiring tends to get a bit crossed-up when we’re aroused. The point is to hurt, not harm.” The Chief shrugged. “Input not injuries.”

Chase stood up from his curl on the floor. “That seems very…”

“Organic?” The Chief met his partner’s confused gaze.

“… Yes.”

The Chief chuckled. “We’re used to it.” He looked at the group with his arms outstretched beseechingly. “Now, are there any other questions? I’d like to get out of here before those three have too much fun.”

The bots shook their heads.

“I’m not going.” 

Heatwave _couldn’t_. He wanted to give Kade privacy, he really did. Sex was bewildering, at best, and horrifying at its worst, but he couldn’t leave his human partner unprotected, poor protection though he may be. He glared at the Chief when the man opened his mouth to protest. “Kade didn’t care that I was here before, so I’m not leaving now.”

The Chief eyed him shrewdly.

Heatwave growled, “I’ve got too much to do.” Not that he’d been doing anything when they got here.

The Chief cuffed quietly. Shaking his head didn’t hide his smile. “Alright, Heatwave. You want to stick around to listen to Kade and his friends get loud? Go ahead.”

Heatwave nodded back, feeling like he’d missed something vital, but too stubborn to worry about it.

“Well,” Blades began, adopting his prissy posture. “If Heatwave can stay, so can I.” _He_ just wanted to watch cupcake hoarders.

“Get outside, Blades.” Chief Charlie Burns had clearly had enough.

As the others turned to the outdoors, Chase shuffled closer, nudging Heatwave’s jaw with his snout. “I believe you will regret this,” his optics glowed with mirth, “but I am proud of you.”

A warm current curled deep in Heatwave’s chasse. Chase was far more emotive in dino-mode, but that didn’t make his declaration any less potent. Heatwave ran his digits along the smooth mesh of the stegosaurs’ neck. “Be proud of me if Kade’s still smiling at the end of the day.”

“Alright,” Chase agreed. “I will be proud of you again tonight.” Pressing his muzzle beneath Heatwave’s chin and against his primary energon lines, Chase ran a very low current over his plating. The effect was disarming. Heatwave went slack, tilting his head for more. The dinobot let out a quiet rumble akin to laughter. “I believe you will find that what Kade seeks is not so mysterious.”

_Kade tilted his head back, exposing the pale column of his throat to Brooks’ mouth. The redhead’s eyes fell shut as he made a sound Heatwave had never heard._

Heatwave looked down at Chase’s optics. “No,” he agreed, “It’s not.” 

Heatwave slid his hand up under Chase’s jaw, pressing their helms together before he could think twice.

After a moment the blue bot pulled back sharply. “_Heatwave!_” Chase’s tone was harsh, and he backed away, shaking himself. Heatwave’s spark turned instantly cold. “That position is claustrophobic in this form,” Chase growled, running a heavy current over his plates.

Heatwave stared dumbly. Pressing helms was… intimate. But Chase hadn’t seemed to notice. The dinobot stamped his feet as if trying to bring the sensors back online after an impact. 

He was self-soothing, Heatwave realized numbly. “I’m sorry, Chase.”

“Don’t be,” the blue bot dismissed. Chase swung his head from side to side like an alloygator trying to clear its audials. “What a bizarre sensation.” He dropped his front end to the floor, scraping his paws over his face.

“Chase.” The blue bot looked up from between his claws. “I’m sorry,” Heatwave said, this time with the proper gravity.

Chase stood, ambling over to Heatwave. “Then I suppose I will just have to pay you back.” Standing on his hind legs, Chase placed his paws on Heatwave’s shoulders. Allowing his full weight to settle on the firebot, Chase pressed his cheek to Heatwave’s. He whispered directly into Heatwave’s audial, “Turnabout _is_ fair play.”

Heatwave didn’t know what to _do_. Chase was _heavy_, but the weight was… soothing. It satiated something in Heatwave’s spark. And his audial was tingling strangely, leaving him with a rather intense urge to rub it against Chase’s mesh.

“I take it you’re staying, too, partner?”

“No, sir.” Chase transformed back to standing, turning to address the Chief as if it were any other Tuesday.

The Chief pushed himself away from the wall where he was casually leaning, smirking as if interrupting a dinosaur flirting with a firetruck was a normal part of _his_ Tuesday.

Had Chase been flirting? 

Heatwave hoped he was.

“Well then, we’ve got a call. Milo got into an argument with Mrs. Neederlander; broke one of her windows.”

“Let us go and arrest the hooligan.” 

“I was thinking we’d let Milo bleed off his temper and then see if he’s willing to pay for the damages,” the Chief countered as Chase passed, walking out into the sunlight without a word or a glance for Heatwave.

“Ah, a fair and just plan, sir.”

Heatwave heard Chase transform and open his door.

A second later, the Chief poked his head back into the garage. “Oh, and Heatwave?”

“Yes, sir?”

“The screaming is almost always a good thing.” And then the Chief was gone, again.

_…_

_Screaming?_


	3. Chapter 3

“So,” Kade started the conversation in the middle, sitting on Heatwave’s paw. The metal couldn’t be any cooler than the sand, but Kade didn’t seem to care. The man’s cool-wet shorts and body heat combined against Heatwave’s mesh for a very strange effect. “How are you and Chase?”

Heatwave nearly jerked away, but dread held him rooted. He tried to sound causal, “You know about that?”

“Well, yeah.” Kade took a bite out of his lobster roll. “It’s kind of hard to miss a couple of durabyllium dinosaurs canoodling in the back yard.” Kade sucked a bit of mayonnaise off the side of his thumb.

“So…” Heatwave was having trouble reconciling Kade’s casual munching with the seriousness of the topic at hand. “Everyone knows?”

“Nah.” Kade waved away Heatwave’s concern. “Just me.”

What?

“And probably Dad.” Kade licked his fingers then looked up. “It’s cute.”

“Uh…” Heatwave blinked. “Cute?”

“Yeah.” Kade stood. “Cute.” He deftly climbed the hot metal of Heatwave’s forelimb. Turning on Heatwave’s shoulder to look out at the sea, Kade hooked one arm around the dinobot’s neck. Heatwave waited for his human to say something profound or trite or romantic. “If Dani or Blades knew, you’d hear about it. _Everyone_ would hear about it — they squeal.” Leave it to Kade to opt for truth instead of tact. “And Graham and Boulder would be _helpful_.”

Heatwave snorted. It was clear what Kade thought of the green team’s romantic advice and the firebot couldn’t disagree.

Kade sat down, sandy heels brushing against Heatwave’s windshield. “Sometimes, I wish…” He trailed off and Heatwave knew he was thinking about Hayley. The firebot said nothing.

After several minutes, Heatwave settled down in the hot sand. He savored the heat even as he watched the humans scurry around like silicalizards, trying not to scorch their feet. Heatwave made sure not to laugh. 

People-watching was a pleasant way to absorb the time it took Kade to reboot.

The wind ruffled Kade’s hair. He stared over the water, resting his chin on the back of Heatwave’s neck. The man’s exposed skin was tanned and even more freckly after all the time he’d been spending in the sun. His friends were good for him in a way that nothing else was, but then there were moments like this when Kade seemed vulnerable. Heatwave didn’t really know what to do. He’d once seen Kade lift a motorcycle, but the memory of one scooter-sized woman was enough to flatten the man. What did you say to that?

Heatwave didn’t try.

His favorite blue stegosaur ambled over, Frankie Greene standing valiantly upon his back. 

Heatwave had a moment to wonder about the ever-decreasing coverings of humans. On an average day, Kade walked around in his protective bunker gear, but introduce surf and sand and suddenly he was down to his shorts despite the blistering conditions. _Frankie_ was out and about on the beach in scraps of turquoise fabric the humans called a bikini. What purpose a bikini could possibly serve escaped Heatwave completely. 

Although, to be fair, he barely grasped Kade’s need for shorts, even after it had been explained to him. Modesty wasn’t a foreign concept, but the need for it in relation to one’s physical self wasn’t exactly Cybertronian. 

Then again, neither was clothing. The closest thing on Cybertron were the caps and cloaks that allowed the police bots to patrol when the acid rains came. Earth didn’t have acid rains. Just water that fell from the sky and filled up their oceans. It was glorious, really.

Heatwave scrambled for words to ask Chase to share the next storm with him, without announcing their budding relationship to Frankie. Or maybe he should just wait and watch the human entertainment. After all, it rained all the time, often with bright cracks of lightning in the sky and the pleasant rumble of thunder. Besides, Frankie looked piratically inclined. There was no telling what mischief she might cause. Heatwave settled with himself to just watch. But when Chase sidled up to his leader, Frankie’s triumphant grin softened. Her eyes slid consolingly across the man slumped against the red dinobot’s neck. 

Frankie leapt up onto the brontosaur’s shoulder, rubbing Kade’s back. “You’re getting a little crispy around the edges.”

“Yeah?” Kade sat up and turned around, leaning back against Heatwave’s neck. “Thanks.” He gratefully accepted a tube of sunscreen from the girl. Rubbing in the lotion, Kade asked, “Cody ask you out, yet?”

“No.” Frankie sat down, pouting. She wrapped her arms around her knees.

“You gonna ask Cody out?” Kade contorted to reach his back.

“No.” Frankie looked and sounded dejected.

“Why not?” Kade snapped the tube shut, tucking it into one of Heatwave’s vents. “Boys are stupid. Just because he doesn’t ask doesn’t mean he doesn’t like you.”

Frankie buried her face in her arms. 

Chase stretched up, delicately nuzzling her bare back with his snout. The stegosaur shot Heatwave a concerned look as the teen began to talk into her thighs. 

“He’s bigger than me, and older than me, and he has a job, and sports, and you guys.”

“You have us, too,” Chase pointed out, visibly unsure of how to proceed.

“It’s not the same!” Frankie’s head popped up, face streaked with tears. Kade waved his fingers at Chase out of her line of sight, signaling the bots to be quiet. Frankie ignored the salt grinding into her skin as she scrubbed her face with her wrists. “Cody’s _Cody_! And I’m just… me.” She deflated, all her teenage indignation spent.

“So,” Kade said calmly, “You’re just not ready.”

Frankie stared at him, biting her lip. She sniffled and slowly shook her head.

Kade opened his arms and after a second of hesitation, Frankie scrambled into them. She pressed herself to his side. Resting his head against hers, Kade hugged her. “You know it’s okay to not be ready?”

Frankie hid her face against his chest and didn’t answer.

Kade sat up straight. He tipped Frankie’s face up by the chin and held it with the tip of his thumb. He waited until she met his eyes. “It is okay to not be ready.”

Frankie licked her lips and gave a stilted nod.

“As long as we’re clear.” Kade relaxed against Heatwave. A minute later, he rubbed his hand against the dinobot’s plating and pointed discretely to the water.

Careful not to unbalance the humans, Heatwave stood and paced obligingly into the tide. A pat on his neck told him when to stop. There were a few long minutes of sweet stillness between the humans upon Heatwave’s back.

All in one motion, Kade stood and hauled Frankie into his arms.

“Kade?” Frankie yelped. “What are you doing?” Frankie struggled in his grip, but his arms were as thick as her thighs and he showed no intention of letting go. “Put me down!”

“Okay.” Kade stepped up onto Heatwave’s crystal backplate.

“What? No! No, no, no, no, n–” Frankie shrieked when Kade hurled her into the air.

Heatwave’s spark seized in his chest, but he was torn between a well-earned trust for Kade and the automatic need to protect Frankie. Neither feeling won out and he found himself watching the girl in her useless armor tumble through the air.

Splashing gracelessly into the water, Frankie disappeared beneath a wave. 

Heatwave hesitated, looking to Chase for guidance. The stegosaur was glancing curiously between Kade and the water. For his part, Kade stared attentively at the spot where Frankie had gone under until she surfaced with a scream. 

“KADE!”

“Well, she got her revenge,” he said casually, with a proud grin. Kade wiped away blood blooming from the long scratches Frankie’s fingernails had left in his skin. “She peeled me like a–”

Chase casually set his head on Heatwave’s chasse and then _very carefully_ flicked Kade into the air with his muzzle.

Whatever manner of vegetable Kade was today was lost in a shout of surprise. The man whooped with joy, plummeting into the water with the biggest splash he could muster. Kade resurfaced seconds later, shaking his head like a dog and laughing. Frankie immediately dunked him, starting a water war that quickly consumed the whole family.

“I am glad he is happy,” Chase said, his head still on Heatwave’s back. The two of them settled down in the surf, watching their humans.

“Yeah,” Heatwave confessed. “Me too.”


	4. No Update.

Fuck my life. And fuck this stupid laptop. No one buy an HP. 

I just found out that my computer ate part three of Stay Back 500 Feet. Shoot me. It ate an entire books worth of Shoes That Don't Fit and now this. AAARGUUUH!

I know this is a bummer of an update, but I just needed to vent. Sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this rings true. If it doesn't; please, please, PLEASE tell me.
> 
> As usual, any mistakes are mine, and I'm happy to fix them. Also, I'm junk with tags: feel free to make suggestions.


End file.
